Fire captain retiring as hub of enthusiasm

Haynes has served 30 years with city

San Diego Fire Capt. Ralph Haynes and firefighter paramedic Bobby Marshall (left) helped a woman who was having difficulty breathing step off a bus. Haynes will be retiring after 30 years of service with the city.
— John Gibbins / Union-Tribune

San Diego Fire Capt. Ralph Haynes and firefighter paramedic Bobby Marshall (left) helped a woman who was having difficulty breathing step off a bus. Haynes will be retiring after 30 years of service with the city.
— John Gibbins / Union-Tribune

Firefighters
come from
around the
city for the
chance to
work at
Station 17
with Capt.
Ralph Haynes,
who guided
a paramedic
unit on a call.
“He attracts
people to him.
It’s bragging
rights,” said
Assistant Fire
Chief Brian
Fennessy.— John Gibbins / Union-Tribune

+Read Caption

Firefighters
come from
around the
city for the
chance to
work at
Station 17
with Capt.
Ralph Haynes,
who guided
a paramedic
unit on a call.
“He attracts
people to him.
It’s bragging
rights,” said
Assistant Fire
Chief Brian
Fennessy.
— John Gibbins / Union-Tribune

CITY HEIGHTS  It’s not uncommon to hear firefighters in San Diego say they want to work at Station 17, nicknamed “The Hub.” There are usually a couple of reasons why: It’s the busiest station in town, and it’s home to Capt. Ralph Haynes.

They’d better hurry.

Haynes, considered one of the city’s more respected firefighters and academy instructors, is retiring after 36 years of service. As his last shift on April 12 nears, stories about the 55-year-old veteran, better known by the initials C.H., are surfacing from across the city.

Teaching at more than 35 academies, Haynes has trained more than three-quarters of the active firefighters in San Diego. Many of those academies were taught after his shift had ended.

“I love coming to work. Sometimes in the moment I find myself looking up and saying, ‘Thank you, Lord,’ ” Haynes said. “This is right where I was meant to be. I was born for this.”

Even while demanding perfection during the most intimidating time of a young firefighter’s life — the academy — Haynes’ smile never wavered, former students said. Steven Lozano, an engineer at Station 17 in City Heights, said Haynes came down on him and his fellow classmates in full force for messing up a hose drill. But after berating the future firefighters for not knowing the drill in their sleep, Haynes walked around the engine and emerged from the other side with a grin.

“Let’s do it again,” he said, his frustration replaced with encouragement.

“We’re in the bad-day business,” said Lozano. “If you’re not going to do it with a smile on your face, then this isn’t the place to be. And we learned that from him.”

Department spokesman Maurice Luque remembered seeing Haynes’ ineffable passion during a ride-along when the captain, unprovoked, began wildly waving out the window. Luque soon realized Haynes was attempting to get the attention of two small children riding in a car next to the truck. When they finally glanced over, the children enthusiastically began returning the waves.

Haynes was a boy when his passion for firefighting was triggered. He was 3 years old when his home burned down. The image was permanently scorched in his young memory.

He became a fireman in the Navy when he was 19. Four years later, he became one of the first black federal firefighters. He joined the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department in 1980 and worked his way up to the rank of captain and was assigned to one of the department’s busiest stations.

Station 17, serving City Heights and the surrounding areas, gets an average of 15 to 20 calls a day — more than 15,000 calls a year.

Firefighters come from around the city for the chance to work with Haynes.

“He attracts people to him. It’s bragging rights,” Assistant Fire Chief Brian Fennessy said. “If you’re a firefighter who works for Ralph or you have worked for Ralph, you get instant credibility in the community. People know that you are going to emulate the abilities that he has.”

With only a handful of shifts left in his career, the captain is still the first on the truck when the alarm sounds. Lozano said if Haynes isn’t the first on board, which is rare, he is the first to comment on it. He continually jokes with his team, even on the busiest of days.

“It can be 3 o’clock in the morning after the 20th call and he’d be smiling. It’s good to be around someone like that,” said Bobby Marshall, a firefighter at the station. “It’s contagious. He makes the whole crew positive.”

Haynes also knows a few things about bad days. He fought the Normal Heights fires in 1985. He battled the Cedar fire of 2003 that charred more than 270,000 acres and the deadly firestorm of 2007 that was nearly as large. He has fallen down stairs, crashed through buildings and been hit by cars.

One particular call, dubbed the Clairemont ax murder, was particularly harrowing. A man killed his wife with an ax strike to the head. It was so traumatic for Haynes that his treatment became one of the first critical incident stress cases in the department. After many sleepless nights, Haynes was sent to counseling.

What resulted was another first. Motivated by his experience with the counselor, Haynes became the first active firefighter to also be named a department chaplain.

“It’s traumatic. And anyone who says it doesn’t affect them is lying. It affects you,” Haynes said.

Some may wonder what has motivated a man to be so driven. For Haynes, it is quite simple.

“Please God, serve people. That’s my mantra,” he said.

Haynes is looking forward to becoming more active in his role as a chaplain and as an elder at his congregation, The Rock Church. He will also have more time to spend with his wife, Raynice, his four children and three grandchildren. He’s also training for a marathon. And let’s not forget golf and cooking.

But he does not plan on straying too far from the station he loves.

“I’m leaving the love of my life. The greatest job in the world,” said Haynes. “But I’m still going to come to ‘The Hub’ for lunch.”